Thoughts, musings and commentary on stories from the developing world

I picked up the newspaper today and found I was reading a story about myself.

Well, almost.

The story was strangely familiar; a postgraduate student with a Masters in International Development (like me), struggling to find a job (like me), even though she already has experience in the field (like me).

The article then took on a more chilling tone as it revealed the reason behind the paucity of jobs in the sector. All postgraduates desperate to get a foot in the door with aid agencies and NGOs are competing with those in the development sector who have just been made redundant, but already have 10-15 years of experience on their CV.

My heart sank.

I know its tough finding jobs at the moment, and getting into development work is by no means easy, but no-one wants to hear that for every job they apply for there is someone else with ten times as much experience competing for the same role.

It’s difficult to know whether such a discouragement necessitates a change of track, or merely more willpower to keep fighting.